


A Hard Truth About Neal Caffrey?

by Pennygirl612



Category: White Collar
Genre: Angst and Feels, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-02
Updated: 2018-03-02
Packaged: 2019-03-26 05:11:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13850790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pennygirl612/pseuds/Pennygirl612
Summary: After Peter has his talk with Kate, Elizabeth takes her turn.  What she learns from Kate about Neal is more than she bargained for and she's left wondering if Neal is the person she and Peter thinks he is.





	A Hard Truth About Neal Caffrey?

**Author's Note:**

> I got to thinking that it wasn't fair that Elizabeth never got the chance to meet and talk with Kate. This story is how that conversation might have gone. Feel free to give me your thoughts/comments on the matter.

A Hard Truth About Neal?

A knock on the door startled Kate. She was still mulling over her conversation with Agent Burke. Had she ever loved Neal? From the look he had given her, Burke’s opinion on the matter was clear. Typical for a Fed, she thought, always living in a black and white world. Since meeting Nick Halden, Kate had learned firsthand just how many shades of gray existed all around her. 

The pounding on the door resumed again. She wasn’t expecting anyone and a very limited number of people knew where she was staying. Was it Burke returning for Round Two? God, she hoped not. Round One had already left her feeling a little less than sure of herself and what she was doing. 

Before Nick, she knew who she was and had a clear vision of her future. A future that had her pursuing her dream of being an artist living in Chicago with an amazing man who worshipped the very ground she walked on. But Nick changed all that by opening up a unique and exciting world to her. Kate had fallen in love. She had fallen hard and fast. It had felt like the ultimate fairytale. Then Adler disappeared and Nick became Neal. The world she knew went up in smoke and spiraled into something barely recognizable. 

Kate couldn’t deny that initially she had been caught up in the excitement of it all. With the help of Mozzie, the three of them had pulled con after con that were frankly, fun and daring. No one got hurt. They planned carefully and only stole from those who either could afford it or had not been the rightful owner in the first place. Their crimes were more or less victimless or at least that’s what she had told herself. Yes, she had viewed it all as fun and games just like playing cops and robbers as a kid.

Then Alex came back into the picture along with her damn obsession over the music box and everything began to fall apart. Kate discovered that Alex was a real threat to her and her life with Neal. No, Neal didn’t love Alex. She wasn’t a threat in that manner, but rather it was what Alex represented. In many ways, Alex and Neal were kindred spirits drawn to one another like moths to a flame. Two thieves in a pod so to speak. And it was because of her that Neal had tried to con Kate. That’s when she knew her whole life with Neal wasn’t about cons; it was a con and so she left. She had needed the space, the distance from Neal and all he represented to find herself. Except as hard as she tried, Kate couldn’t. The young, naïve girl she had been was long gone. As for the person she had become? Well, most of the time, even she didn’t like the woman staring back at her in the mirror.

A third knock even more insistent than the others broke Kate away from her thoughts of the past. Picking up the gun, Kate gripped it tightly as she looked through the peep hole. She was surprised to find a woman standing outside her door. Her dark hair pinned back in a professional bun and dressed in a navy blue suit, the woman wasn’t anyone Kate recognized, but the look of fierce determination was so evident on her face, Kate doubted that the woman could be ignored or would simply go away.

With reluctance Kate opened the door. Without a word, the woman barged in brushing straight past her. Her eyes flickered momentarily to the gun in Kate’s hand before dismissing that as unimportant. Crossing her arms against her chest, the woman stared down Kate, almost daring her to look away. Kate didn’t back down, but she did lower the pistol to hang loosely in her hand by her side. 

After what seemed like a long moment of silence, the woman spoke first. “So you’re Kate.”

Only three words, but they hit Kate hard. If she had thought Burke had been judging her, this woman’s barely contained hostility felt like Category 5 hurricane winds hurdling against her! Maintaining her composure was hard, but it was something she had learned from her time with Neal. Taking a deep breath, Kate finally asked, “And you are?”

“Elizabeth,” the woman answered and then belatedly added, “Burke.”

Kate sighed. Great, the wife of Agent Burke had just barged into her room. And here Kate had been worried about the Fed! “I already talked to your husband.”

Elizabeth waved her hand in dismissal. “I know and I’m sure Peter was ever the professional and simply asked you to leave Neal alone.”

Shrugging Kate stated simply, “He asked me my price and I gave it to him.”

Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed. “Peter gives you what you want and you walk away from Neal? Just like that?”

Kate only shrugged again.

Elizabeth stepped forward, breaking into Kate’s personal space. “I didn’t think so.”

Although she wanted to step back, Kate remained rooted in her spot. She had a height advantage over Elizabeth and she tried to use it now to intimidate the older woman. “First Agent Burke, now you. I’m starting to get the picture here.”

Elizabeth raised a brow and asked calmly, “And what picture is that?”

Kate smiled down at her. “You and your husband want Neal all to yourselves. You think I’m a threat. You both seem to forget Neal’s a big boy. He can make his own choices. Are you afraid he will choose me over the two of you?”

Elizabeth spoke carefully. “When it comes to you, Neal’s thoughts are…clouded. Peter and I only want what’s best for him.”

Kate laughed bitterly. “What’s best for Neal? And you think my thoughts are clouded?! Take my advice. You and Peter are the ones who need to walk away before you both get hurt.”

Nostrils flaring, Elizabeth inched even closer to Kate. “Are you threatening us?! Let me tell you something little girl! Neal is a good person with a beautiful heart. I’m sorry you can’t see how truly special he is, but if you think for one moment I’m going to sit back and watch you get him sent back to prison or worse yet, get him killed, you’re crazy!”

This time Kate did take a small step back. “Oh, okay, you and Peter can make me out to be the bad person here. That’s fine. But you’ll learn. You’ll learn the hard way just like I did.”

“Learn what?” Elizabeth asked her.

Kate paused wondering whether she should continue or not. The Burkes were obviously under the Caffrey spell; the effects of which she knew all too well. Her words probably wouldn't matter, but she continued anyway. “Neal Caffrey doesn’t exist! He’s no more real than Nick Halden or Steve Tabernackle or any of the other aliases he has used over the years!”

“No, that’s not true!” Elizabeth practically spat out into Kate’s face. 

Kate inhaled and let out a deep breath before she walked over to the door. Holding it open, she waited for Elizabeth to cross the threshold before speaking again. “I wish it wasn’t true for my sake back then and for your sake now.”

Kate could see the doubt creeping slowly into Elizabeth’s eyes. “No, no, you’re wrong about him. Neal wouldn’t lie to us.” This time Elizabeth’s voice held a lot less conviction than it had before.

Sadness came over Kate and Elizabeth could easily see it was genuine. “The worst lie is the one we tell ourselves, isn’t it? Good bye, Mrs. Burke.”


End file.
